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July 25-29 2011, Crested Butte, Colorado

Yes, this is definitely happening. We already have more than enough confirmed participants. (We were planning on doing it anyway, even if it was only the original 5 of us). Lodging in downtown Crested Butte is filling up fast, so don't hesitate if you're planning to come -- otherwise you'll end up on the mountain (not the worst thing in the world, but not as convenient as being in town).

This event evolved from the Java Posse Roundup. That conference was designed to leave afternoons free for skiing and other outdoor activities. However, people spontaneously started creating self-organized afternoon workshops, which we called "Coding Rodeos."

Dick Wall, defacto Java Posse ringleader and an avid mountain biker, wanted to come to Crested Butte in the Summer to experience the renowned trails here (we also have terrific hiking, fishing, rafting and kayaking). The suggestion of moving the Roundup to the Summer was soundly defeated, so we needed another excuse. Why not extend the Coding Rodeos into week-long "Campsites"?

Because of the weather patterns in the Summer, morning is the best time for outdoor activities; this avoids afternoon thunderstorms. We'll program in the afternoons, and in the evenings we'll round up the chuck wagons for cookouts and whatever else comes our way.

The most important themes for this event are "casual" and "Do It Yourself (DIY)." We're getting together to explore things about programming, but how far you get is entirely up to you. You can come as a complete beginner and work through basic exercises, or you can bring your project from work and struggle with that. Or start an open-source project while you're here. If you can think of it, it's fair game. This isn't a seminar where you get a "certificate of achievement" at the end -- what you achieve is up to you.

We're starting off with Scala as a Campsite, but we have more space: two or even three more rooms at the main hall, my house, and probably any house that gets a group rental. Because we aren't moving around (like at a conference), more options will probably appear.

If you have an idea for a campsite, feel free to pitch it and we'll see if we have space. Of course, you'll be responsible for your campsite -- you don't have to know anything about it, but you're probably hoping to get some like-minded folks to explore it with.

Financially, we just want to cover our expenses, which is rent for the hall, insurance, and possibly tools that might improve our experience (like better wireless routers). The fee is low enough to make it easy for people to come. Excess will be donated to charitable causes.

Note: Although we initially envisioned 5-day camps, there's no reason that one or more campsites can't be subdivided to cover selections of shorter topics. Or, for that matter, other structures we haven't thought of. This is an open-minded, invent-as-you-go event.

Campsite #1: Scala

Join Dick Wall (principle of Escalate, a Scala training company) and Bill Venners (coauthor and publisher of Programming in Scala), Dianne Marsh (coathor of Scala Koans), Bruce Eckel, and others. You can work through Scala tutorials or Koans or create your own projects.

Tent 1:Lift

Dick Wall wants to make a Lift application. Not sure what it will be yet, but this will explore the Lift web framework to discover its pros and cons.

Tent 2: ScalaTest

Bill Venners will be working on the next version of the defacto test framework for Scala. Lots of good stuff to learn by participating and contributing!

Tent 3: Intro Scala Book

Dianne Marsh and Bruce Eckel are coauthoring a book that will gently bring novices into Scala. It should be in pretty good shape by the time of the camp, and we need folks to try it out and to generate solutions for exercises (and to create exercises and discussion points).

Campsite #2: TBA

A Flex campsite has been suggested. Other possibilities include Android, Java, Google's Go language, Python, Ruby, Groovy, JavaScript/HTML5, one of the various web development frameworks, you name it.

Campsite #3: TBA

(Other campsites will be added as they appear, assuming we have room).

Once you complete your registration you'll be on the mailing list so you can suggest ideas to the group; you'll also have permission to edit this website.

Fee: $200

The goal of the fee is just to cover expenses (hall rental, insurance, equipment). To register, you must agree to sign the Release Form.